2014 Mill Valley Film Festival

The 2014 Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) was held form October 2 to 14.  I saw five films.

The Little House starring Haru Kuroki, Takako Matsu & Hidetaka Yoshioka; directed by Yôji Yamada; Japanese with subtitles; (2014)
I Can Quit Whenever I Want starring Edoardo Leo & Valeria Solarino; directed by Sydney Sibilia; Italian with subtitles; (2014)
'71 starring Jack O'Connell; directed by Yann Demange; (2014)

Two Days, One Night starring Marion Cotillard; directed by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne; French with subtitles; (2014) - Official Facebook

In Order of Disappearance starring Stellan Skarsgård & Bruno Ganz; directed by Hans Petter Moland; Norwegian, Swedish & Serbian with subtitles; (2014)

I saw The Little House at the Smith Rafael in San Rafael.  I saw I Can Quit Whenever I Want, Two Days, One Night & In Order of Disappearance at the Sequoia in Mill Valley.  I saw '71 at the Lark in Larkspur.  It was the first time I've been to the Lark in a few years.

It was unusually hot on the days I went to the festival.  I remember after seeing '71 at the Lark, I returned to my car which was parked on the street during the late afternoon.  The steering wheel was too hot to handle.  I had to drive with one hand.  As it would become too uncomfortable to handle the wheel with one hand, I would switch to the other hand.  I repeated that for quite a while until I decided to pull over and park in the shade.  It reminded me of Texas.  You don't see it so much out here but in Texas, everyone has car shades which are made of folded cardboard or rolled foam.  If you parked your car in the sun, you would put your car shade on the dashboard.  If you didn't, your dashboard would eventually crack from the expansion and contraction of the dash due to exposure to the hot sun.  In addition, the metal on the seatbelt buckles could cause a slight burn if it touched your skin.  The steering wheel would also be intolerably hot.

Before I forget, I stopped in for coffee at a small cafe in Mill Valley. It's called Beth's Community Kitchen.  The sign on the doors says something like Beth's Community Kitchen and Bakery Atelier.  I had to look that word up.  Atelier - an artist's or designer's studio or workroom.

On the day I stopped in, there was a film crew making a documentary there about Beth.  The director/cameraman had an old school 16 mm camera with a spring wound motor.  Maybe we'll see a documentary about Beth at a local film festival.  Maybe I'll be in the background.

§§§

If I recall correctly, it was announced before the screening of The Little House that it was the only "film" being screened with a 35 mm print; everything else at the 2014 MVFF was digital.  For reasons not explained, this meant that there were one or two breaks in the action while they changed reels.  I'm not sure why that would be.  If it was changeover projection, there should be no breaks.  If it was a platter, the film was short enough that it should have been able to fit on one platter.

The Little House was directed by Yôji Yamada whose career had been defined by his Otoko wa Tsurai yo (It's Tough Being a Man)  or Tora-san series.  The series spanned 48 feature films and 26 years.  Yamada directed 46 of the films.  Actor Kiyoshi Atsumi starred in all 48 films.

More recently, Yamada's Twilight Samurai series has garnered attention.  My favorite Yamada film is The Yellow Handkerchief (1977).

The Little House is like many of Yamada's films - sentimental; sometimes overly so.  Told in flashback, a young man reads his late grandmother's memoirs.  What he discovers is that his grannie was in the middle of a love triangle (maybe 2) during the middle of WWII.

Haru Kuroki plays Taki, a young woman who comes to Tokyo to work as a maid.  After a brief stint in the household of an older couple, she is placed with their niece Tokiko (Takako Matsu) who is married and has a son.  Taki forms a close & loyal relationship to the family, in particular Tokiko.  The titular house reflects Tokiko's Western influence.  It's a Western style house more at home in a Norman Rockwell painting than 1940s Tokyo.  Early into the film, Tokiko is introduced to Shoji (Hidetaka Yoshioka), one of her husband's co-workers.

The main plotline of the film is the affair which Tokiko has with Shoji and Taki's complicity in enabling the affair.  Adultery & its consequences is a rich vein to tap but Yamada has placed the film in Taki's point of view which seems a stretch.  In other words, the maid had quite an influence in that household which I guess is the point of the film.

I won't give away the ending but will say that the consequences of losing WWII intervene before the consequences of Tokiko's infidelity become apparent. There is a postscript where Taki's grandson seeks out Tokiko's son in modern day Japan which seemed unnecessary and slightly cruel to me.

I will also note that there is slight but distinct theme of homosexuality in the film.  Taki, after initially being flustered, seems to be in love with Tokiko; at time she seems to be competing with Shoji for her attention.  Tokiko seems to enjoy the attention from both Taki & Shoji.  Shoji is vaguely effeminate and I began to wonder about the true reasons for his repeated refusals to marry.

The Little House is a middling film.  It's too sentimental for my taste but Yamada has a flare for these family melodramas.  Playing it out against the backdrop of WWII was also a bold choice.  No matter what happens with the characters, you know that the war is coming and then the defeat is coming.  It puts their concerns of love & honor in different perspective.

§§§

I Can Quit Whenever I Want went on to screen at the San Francisco Film Society's New Italian Cinema series a month after it screened at MVFF.  ICQWIW is about over-educated, under-employed Italians who have no avenues to make a living.  They resort to manufacturing and selling designer party drugs.  It's like Breaking Bad but played as a farce.  It's intricately plotted and the comedy is one of "fish out of water."  It was amusing while I watched it but not particularly memorable.

'71 was set in Northern Ireland during "The Troubles" in (you guessed it) 1971 which was the peak period of the strife.  Jack O'Connell is Gary Hook, a young British soldier in Belfast who is separated from his unit during a mission.  He is forced to make his way from the Catholic area to the Protestant area.  Along the way, he experiences hostility and kindness from expected & unexpected quarters.  The film did a good job in portraying the fear of retribution which normal citizens must have experienced as well as the betrayals and violence fomented by double agents who infiltrated both sides.  Two months after seeing the film, I can't quite recall the plot but instead remember specific scenes for their intensity.  The double crosses complicated the simple tale of rescuing Gary Hook.  The ending in particular made it appear as though the British wanted Hook to be murdered in order to create a martyr and justify their heavy-handed measures.

The Scandinavians make good action/revenge films and I've seen more than one at MVFF.  I saw Hellsinki in 2009, A Somewhat Gentle Man in 2010 and In Order of Disappearance this year.  Not quite as memorable as the previous two film, IOoD features Stellan Skarsgård as a snow-plough driver who takes revenge on a drug cartel for killing his son.  The premise is ridiculous and the violence is ridiculously over-the-top (the title refers to each person Skarsgård dispatches to the afterlife).  It reminded me of Point Blank where the killer seeks revenge by working his way up the criminal organization. Skarsgård is solid in every role he plays and this one is not different.  It's not quite as memorable as Hellsinki but IOoD continues a tradition of dark comedies masquerading as action films.

§§§

Two Days, One Night went on to screen at the SFFS' French Cinema Now a few weeks after the MVFF screening.  It was my favorite film of the five I saw at this year's MVFF.

The premise of the film is inspired.  Marion Cotillard is Sandra, a wife & mother who has been on disability leave at her job (I believe the company assembled solar panels).  It's not stated in the film but Sandra's leave was likely for stress or mental health reasons.  She is the high-strung type.

Anyway, when she is ready to return to work, she is informed that they got along fine without her and her job has been eliminated.  I can't recall how many workers were at her company; 16 is the number in my head.  Management found out there was too much work for 16 but not enough for 17; better to pay overtime sometimes than a 17th salary all the time.  Sandra complains and they offer a no-win solution.  They'll put Sandra's job to a vote among her peers.  They can vote to reinstate her to her job or they can vote for an annual bonus; it's one or the other.  She needs a majority, a tie will result in not being hired back and everyone getting their bonus.  They tell Sandra about this late in the afternoon on Friday.  She has to spend the weekend (the titular two days, one night) tracking down her former co-workers and asking them to vote for her to get her job back.

Naturally disinclined to beg her co-workers to hire her back, she is pushed by her husband and best friend.  However, it is the people that she encounters that make the film memorable and thought provoking.  Some are immediately for or against her.  Other people are sympathetic but need the money.  Some resent being put in a position to make the decision.  She encounters the full gamut of responses.

I won't reveal the ending but it shows that Sandra has learned to deal with stress much better than at the end of the film.

The reason I liked the film was because it made me think about my own workplace.  If I was approached with such a request, how would I vote?  The answer is "It depends on who is asking."  I think some people are qualified to their job so if asked to hire them back and forgo a bonus, I'd decline.  Then I thought that that position sounded harsh.  I think even if I voted no and got the bonus, I would be resentful that management put me in that position.

I fully empathized with Sandra and several of her co-workers during the film which served to make the film more personal.  In addition, Sandra is counting votes so there is the suspense as to whether or not she'll get 9 votes.  Two Days, One Night is an outstanding film; one of my favorites of 2014.

More Spring Cleaning

I saw a number of non-festival films in the first quarter which were interesting and worthwhile if not spectacular.

The Great Passage starring Ryûhei Matsuda; directed by Yûya Ishii; Japanese with subtitles; (2013)
Two Lives starring Juliane Köhler & Liv Ullmann; directed by Georg Maas & Judith Kaufmann; German & Norwegian with subtitles; (2012) - Official Website

24 Exposures starring Adam Wingard, Caroline White, Simon Barrett & Sophia Takal; directed by Joe Swanberg; (2013)

7 Boxes starring Celso Franco; directed by Juan Carlos Maneglia & Tana Schembori; Spanish with subtitles; (2012) - Official Website

Gloria starring Paulina García; directed by Sebastián Lelio; Spanish with subtitles; (2013) - Official Website

Generation War Part 1 starring Volker Bruch, Tom Schilling, Katharina Schüttler, Miriam Stein & Ludwig Trepte; directed by Philipp Kadelbach; German & Polish with subtitles; (2013) - Official Facebook

Generation War Part 2 starring Volker Bruch, Tom Schilling, Katharina Schüttler, Miriam Stein & Ludwig Trepte; directed by Philipp Kadelbach; German & Polish with subtitles; (2013) - Official Facebook

The Grand Budapest Hotel starring Ralph Fiennes; directed by Wes Anderson; (2014) - Official Website

I saw The Great Passage & Two Lives at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in January as part of their annual For Your Consideration series in which they screen film submitted for the Best Foreign Language film Oscar category.   The Great Passage later screened at the 2014 CAAMFest in March.

I saw 24 Exposures and 7 Boxes at the Little Roxie.  I saw 24 Exposures on the first day in February and 7 Boxes on the last day in February.

I saw Gloria at the Magick Lantern in Pt. Richmond in March.

I saw both Generation War films on successive afternoons in March at the Landmark Embarcadero Center Cinemas.

I saw The Grand Budapest Hotel in late March at the Stonestown Cinema.

§§§

Let's start with Gloria since I ventured all the way to Pt. Richmond to see it.  Is Pt. Richmond a separate municipality than Richmond?  It was my first time in Pt. Richmond which has a quaint, downtown area where the Magick Lanten is located.

I first heard of the Magick Lantern about a year ago.  I had been meaning to go but am rarely in that area.  Looking at transit options from Richmond BART, I decided that driving would be the best option.  That limits my opportunities to visit as I rarely drive across the bay.  In addition, the Magick Lantern only has six regularly scheduled screenings per week (Thursday through Sunday).

A few months ago, I read that the Magick Lantern is struggling one year after opening.  Although I'm hoping for its success, I thought it better that I make it a priority to get over there to see it in case it doesn't survive.  Owner Ross Woodbury states in the article "Right now (the theater) is being run as a charity...The films I show are really, really good, but they’re generally not as well known. There’s x-number of people who come every week, and I’m delighted with them and love them. But there just aren’t enough of them."

For the past few months (maybe longer), the Lantern has been screening San Francisco Noir films on Thursday nights at 7:30 PM.  Admission is free.  On Thursday, The Midnight Story (1957) with Tony Curtis is screening.  The Rocket is screening five times from Friday night through Sunday afternoon.  Admission is $7 (cash only).

What are my impressions about the theater?  As the news article states, it's hidden, on the left hand side of a hallway.  If I recall correctly, there was a sandwich board sign on the sidewalk advertising the theater.  From the street, it's easiest to find by looking for the prominent Starbucks signage next to it.  As I entered the theater, the first thing I noticed was an impressive collection of cinema related books on large bookshelves to the left of the entrance.  I believe the back of the bookshelves form the back wall of the auditorium and they don't quite reach the ceiling.  After purchasing my ticket, I perused the books as well as some VHS tapes and DVDs.  I'm not sure if the items were for sale.

The screening room consists of four or five rows of theater seats; perhaps 10 seats across.  In front of the first row of seats are some beanbags on the floor which were being used by some of the audience.  On the evening I went, an entire row of seats were taped off because they weren't securely fastened to the floor.  Turkish or Afghan rugs were hung on the walls as makeshift soundproofing.  The projection is strictly DVD/Blue Ray.  There is no space for a 35 mm projector (either platter or changeover).  I went to a 7:30 screening on a Saturday night and there were approximately 20 people in the house.

Gloria is set in Santiago, Chile.  Pauline Garcia portrays the titular character, a divorcée in her late 50s.  Benignly neglected by her grown children and bored by her life, Gloria explores the singles scene which the synopsis tell us is quite vibrant for senior citizens.  She meets Rudolfo (Sergio Hernández), a retired naval officer.  Their relationship quickly progresses but Gloria has her doubts.  Rudolfo claims to be divorced but his ex-wife seems unusually dependent on him.  He also disappears from a family dinner where she introduces him to her children (and ex-husband).

The relationship continues to deteriorate and although Rudolfo marital status is never confirmed, Gloria appears to believe he is still married.  Her final, dramatic break from him signals her rebirth which is visually punctuated by her dancing at a disco to the Spanish language version of Gloria (the Laura Branigan song; not the Van Morrison one).

Kudos to Garcia for her performance which features nude sex scenes.  She is in nearly every scene and continues to show a buoyant attitude that belies the realities of her life.  Not necessarily sad, she is definitely on the downside of a life that has had its share of setbacks.  However, it is Hernández as Rudolfo who powers the film.  Whatever complaints Gloria may have about the way her life turned out, Rudolfo would seem to have more.  His grown daughters have no income of their own and are entirely dependent on their father both financially and emotionally.  Rudolfo seems unwilling to change the clearly dysfunctional dynamics within his family.  Unwilling to commit to Gloria and unwilling to cut his children loose, Rudolfo wants to have it both ways and Gloria is having none of it.

The transformation in the film is not so much with Gloria but rather the audience's perception of her.

§§§

I became aware of Generation War at the 2013 Mill Valley Film Festival.  At MVFF, it was screened as one film with a running time of 4 hours, 30 minutes.  I wanted to see it but the screening I was interested in was At Rush so I went for a bird in the hand instead.  Interestingly, I cannot recall which film I saw instead of Generation War.  The film was broken into two parts for its US release.

Generation War follows five young Germans from 1941 to 1945.   Wilhelm (Volker Bruch) is an officer in the Wehrmacht and has already seen combat when the film begins.   Friedhelm (Tom Schilling) is Wilhelm's younger brother.  He has not served in the military before and in contrast to his brother, he sees no honor in warfare.  Charlotte (Miriam Stein) is naive and secretly in love with Wilhelm.  She volunteers as nurse and is stationed on the Eastern Front, not far from where the brother are stationed.   Katharina Schüttler is Greta, an ambitious singer who has an affair with an SS officer in order to advance her career and save her Jewish boyfriend Viktor (Ludwig Trepte).  Unbeknownst to Greta, the SS officer double crosses her and arrest Viktor.  He escapes his fate at a concentration camp and falls in with Polish resistance fighters.

Originally a German television miniseries, Generation War as epic reach which sometimes exceeds its grasp.  The five actors are in one scene together.  After that, they appear apart in pairs, trios or even quartets.  For me, the plot lines concerning Wilhelm and Friedhelm were the most compelling.  Wilhelm begins the film as patriotic and duty bound.  As Wilhelm is weighed down with his responsibilities as a platoon commander, he begins to realize the inhumanity of war and in particular, the brand of war the Nazi fought.  Meanwhile, his younger brother Friedhelm, who serves in his platoon, slowly loses his sense of morality as the atrocity he watch have an opposite effect on him than his brother.  The attitudes of the two brothers slowly come together and then diverge as they end at extreme opposites.  Wilhelm becomes a deserter, is captured and forced into a penal battalion where his unit is given the most dangerous missions.  Friedhelm becomes foolhardy in combat before eventually falling in with some fervent Hitler Youth defending against the Soviets during the final weeks of WWII.

Charlotte grows up fast in the field hospital she works at.  Seeing death on a regular basis and even turning Jewish staff members, she becomes a capable nurse before failing to evacuate and being captured by the Soviets.  She escapes rape and possibly death, courtesy of the Jewish woman she turned in (who is now an officer in the Soviet Army).

Greta becomes more ambitious as the war progresses.  She lives in luxury as her SS benefactor paves the way for her success.  However, when she threatens to expose their affair to his wife, he sends her on a tour of the Eastern Front where she reunites with Charlotte and the brothers.  Assuming the convoy will wait for a big star like her, she is left without transport back to Berlin and must make her own way.  When she finally returns, she takes revenge on the SS officer by exposing their relationship to his wife for which she is immediately sent to prison where she remains for the rest of the war.

Finally, there is Viktor.  I'm not sure how many Jews were left in Berlin in 1941 and hindsight may be 20/20 but it seem ridiculous for him and his parents to stick around Germany and I doubt he would have greeted his Aryan friends on the street of 1941 Berlin with "Shalom!"  His transformation from nice Jewish boy to resistance fighter seems most extreme.  He is continuously forced to hide his Jewish background from the partisans as they are as rabidly antisemitic as the Nazis.

I won't reveal who survives the war and who doesn't.  Each of them face and escape death at least once.  The film was a little melodramatic and contrived.  It definitely felt like a TV miniseries.  It also treated the five Germans as complicit victims of the Nazi regime.  It's a balanced portrayal but each of them can claim victimization by the Nazi regime which four of them openly serve.  Viktor of course, is the odd man out.  At most, he was a little too passive when his girlfriend starts screwing an SS officer to gain his travel papers.

By the way, that SS officer (Mark Waschke) is one of the best roles in the film.  Pure villain, he abuses his power as an SS officer and rather than face his comeuppance, he burns his uniform at the end of the war, assumes a new identity, escapes de-Nazification efforts and lands a job working for the American occupation forces.

Decidedly middlebrow and filled with false or at least, faux insights about the German people of WWII, Generation War has a fervent energy which propels it for most of its 4.5 hours.  It's hard to make a boring film about Nazis and WWII.

§§§

I've become a bit of a Joe Swanberg fan since the Roxie held a retrospective of his work last year.  I was anxious to see his almost latest film, 24 Exposures, at the Roxie.  Swanberg premiered another film at this year's Sundance Film Festival in January.

Interestingly, the Roxie's website did not prominently mention that 24 Exposures was directed by Swanberg.  The copy mentioned "Vaseline-lensed sense and sexability of an early ‘90s Zalman King production..."  That doesn't sound like Swanberg whose films don't shy away from sexuality but strives for realism with mumblecore dialogue and recognizable situations.

24 Exposures is about a photographer who shoots models in mock death scenes (think crime scene photos) with an eye towards the erotic aspects of dead, topless women.  He and his girlfriend also likes to engage in ménage à trois with some of the models.  In parallel, a suicidal police detective is investigating a series of murders where the victim are dead, topless women.

Adam Wingard is Billy, the photographer and Simon Barrett is Michael, the cop.  Alex, Billy's girlfriend, is portrayed by Caroline White and indie film queen Sophia Takal is one of the models who looks impressive in a pair of red stretch pants.

Much of the dialogue, particularly Michael's, seems awkwardly delivered and artificial.  I can't believe Swanberg was unaware of that.  Swanberg must be commenting on the genre or perhaps the audience's expectation of his films.  In the end, Swanberg plays an book agent who critiques Michael's memoirs of the murders.  Swanberg ticks off a number of shortcomings in the draft which could easily apply to the film which then leads the audience to think the film is an adaption of the faux memoir which the book agent is rejecting.  It's a little too meta for me.

24 Exposures isn't a horrible film but of the half dozen or so Swanberg directed films I've seen in the past year, it is my least favorite.

§§§

7 Boxes is a Paraguayan film; perhaps the first Paraguayan film I've seen.  I see so many films, I can't keep track the country of origin.

Celso Franco is Victor, a 17 year old boy who dreams of being famous and on television.  To achieve these dreams, he needs a cell phone.  I'm not sure why he needs a cell phone to achieve stardom.  Anyway, he gets a job to move 7 boxes several blocks in Asunción.  He has to deal with stolen cell phones, criminals, cops, a girl and the unknown contents of the boxes.

7 Boxes has thrills and some black humor.  It's one of those films where multiple plot threads come together and then apart as the story progresses.  It's clever and entertaining but didn't leave much of a lasting impression.

§§§

The Great Passage was Japan's submission for the Best Foreign Language film at this year's Oscars.  It did not make the list of final nominations.

Ryûhei Matsuda is Mitsuya Majime, a book publishing company employee.  The film begins in the 1980s when Majime is a struggling salesman.  He is quickly recruited by the editors on a project to publish a new edition of a dictionary.  Despite being a thankless and likely money-losing proposition, Majime, a linguistics major, quickly shines in his role as researcher and ultimately editor of the dictionary.

The film spans about 20 years during the which the dictionary is compiled and goes through several edits.  During this time, Majime meets a woman, gets married, assumes more responsibility on the project and ultimately shepherds it to completion.

A little too sentimental for my tastes, The Great Passage is far from the best Japanese film I've seen in the past few years.  At nearly 2 hours and 15 minutes, I thought 30 minutes of editing could have made the film a better product.  It couldn't have been all bad because I can remember two scenes 3 months later.  First, define "left" without using the word "right."  How do you define your left hand without referencing the right hand?  Second, define "love."

Two Lives was Germany's submission for the Best Foreign Language film and it didn't receive a nomination either.  The film is set in the early 1990s as the Berlin Wall falls.  We see a woman (Juliane Kohler) using disguises and false papers to sneak into East Germany.  We later learn the woman is Katrine Myrdal, a Norwegian housewife and new grandmother.  Her husband is a submarine captain in the Norwegian navy, her daughter is a college student who has decided to have a child out of wedlock and her mother is Liv Ullmann.  Katrine was taken by the Nazis as a baby for her Aryan features, raised in East Germany after the war, became a Stasi spy and escaped to Norway as a young woman.  There is more to the story than that but I'll omit the major surprise element.

Evocative of a John le Carré novel, Two Lives recalls the end of the Cold War made personal by viewing the emotional toll Katrine has paid after having lived her life as an undercover agent.  The story is a engaging although the multiple deceits and frequent flashbacks make the film more difficult to follow.  I can only image that, like Generation War, Two Lives resonated more with German audiences where the specter of post-WWII politics, reunification and familiarity with Stasi activities are more keenly felt than in the US.

§§§

With each film Wes Anderson releases, I enjoy his work a little less.  That trend continues with The Grand Budapest Hotel.  I can't say I disliked the film but his filmmaking style is wearing thin for me.  Whimsical, fantastical elements, deadpan deliveries - they are all there in Budapest and the visual composition and plot are meticulously planned.  It's a well made film but I guess I'm fatigued by the Anderson Touch.  His style has become equally or more important than his substance.  I'm sure Anderson's fans will disagree and gobble up Budapest but I just didn't feel it this time.   I should go back and watch The Royal Tennebaums (my favorite Anderson film) to see if my enjoyment of it has cooled.

RIP Peter O'Toole

Peter O'Toole died on December 14.  I can't say I'm a big fan of O'Toole.  I saw him in Lawrence of Arabia but I've missed many of his most famous film performances - Becket, The Lion in Winter, Goodbye, Mr. Chips and Man of La Mancha.  The Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center screened Dean Spanley in honor of O'Toole's passing.  I went to the 6:30 screening on New Year's Eve.

Dean Spanley starring Sam Neill, Jeremy Northam, Bryan Brown & Peter O'Toole; directed by Toa Fraser; (2008) - Official Website

Sam Neill plays the eponymous Dean Spanley.  Dean is Spanley's title not his first name.  Spanley is an Anglican priest in early 20th century New Zealand.

The story centers around the relationship between Fisk Sr. (O'Toole) and his sole remaining son, Fisk Jr. (Northam).  A second son was killed during the Boer Wars which Sr. has managed to seemingly forget.  The firmly entrenched tradition is for Fisk Jr. to visit Sr. on Thursdays.  Boring of the routine, Jr. drags Sr. to a lecture on the "transmigration of souls"; i.e. reincarnation.  Although the lecture is boring and Sr. thinks the idea to be poppycock, Jr. meets two important people.  First, he sees Spanley in the lecture which surprises him given Spanley's position in the church.  He also meets Wrather (Bryan Brown), a "conveyancer" which seems to be another name for purveyor.

Several chance meetings with Spanley lead Jr. to believe there is some kismet at work.  He decides to strike up a friendship with Spanley who doesn't seem to interested until Jr. tells him he has an Imperial Tokay which is a sweet wine made for the Hapsburg Royal family.  This piques Spanley's interest and he agrees to dinner.  The problem is that Jr. doesn't have an Imperial Tokay and is unable to procure one from the local wine merchant.  Stepping into the breach is Wrather who knows people who knows people.

With Imperial Tokay in hand, Jr. hosts Spanley but is surprised at the ardor of Spanley's oenophilia.  Spanley's inhalation of aroma of the wine sends him to near ecstasy.  And once he gets a few glasses of the wine into him, Spanley begins to speak as if he can recall past reincarnations.

Spanley's behavior greatly intrigues Jr. who urges Wrather to procure more Imperial Tokay.  Wrather agrees but, his curiosity whetted, stipulates that he wants to attend the next dinner with Spanley.  Agreeing to the arrangement, Jr. host the two men again the next week.  Again Spanley enters a trancelike state after a glass of the wine.  This time, he begins to speak more specifically to his previous life as a dog.  His words remind him of stories he has heard about his father as a boy.  Sr. loved a dog named Wag (which happens to be Spanley's initials and nickname - WAG Spanley) who ran away.

Convinced that Spanley is the reincarnation of Sr's dog, Jr. invites his father over the following week but doesn't tell him about Spanley's unusual stories.  Once assembled and suitably lubricated, Spanley goes on to tell of his life with "the Master" and the particulars of his disappearance.  In this seen, Neill is masterful in an extended soliloquy's where he describes the joy of being of dog and the tragic fate which befell him.  Sr. is emotionally moved by the experience and his heretofore detached demeanor is replaced in the final scene with image of Sr. playing with a new dog.

Dean Spanley is a modestly paced film which builds to its climax slowly.  The payoff is significant and the result of outstanding performances by Neill and O'Toole.  Neill has the more difficult part with his long monologues in the character of a dog.  However, O'Toole some conveys a sense of his long past youth in brief interludes with Northam as his son.  I was very impressed by Dean Spanley.

Hollywood Home Movies

On December 11, I ventured to the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center to see Hollywood Home Movies, a program consisting of home movies from Hollywood stars.  Curated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the program was narrated by Randy Haberkamp, the Academy's Managing Director of Programming, Education and Preservation & Lynne Kirste, Special Collections Curator, Academy Film Archive.  In addition, Michael Mortilla accompanied the films (all of which were silent) on piano.

The program consisted of 17 home movies and the total program was about 2 hours.

The next evening, the Smith Rafael was screening A Century Ago: The Films of 1913.  I wanted to go but I gave a friend the option of seeing Hollywood Home Movies or The Films of 1913.  Technically, I asked initially her to go to both but she flat out refused so it become either/or situation.  She chose Hollywood Home Movies although (unbeknownst to her) my preference was to see The Films of 1913.

For the past several years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences commemorates the early days of cinema by highlighting the films which are celebrating their centennial.  These Century Ago programs screen exclusively and one night only in the Bay Area at the Smith Rafael.  I've wanted to go for the past few years but work or some other film screening has kept me from going.  I should have just gone by myself but trips to San Rafael on consecutive nights seemed too much of an indulgence.  In hindsight, I regret my decision.

My favorite clips from Hollywood Home Movies include Marlene Dietrich and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. on their European vacation in 1937, James Wong Howe's trip to San Francisco just after the Bay Bridge & Golden Gate Bridge opened, guests lounging at Hearst Castle, Esther Williams home movies and the wrap party picnic for It's a Wonderful Life.

The Puzzle Within the Castro Theater's November 2013 Calendar Redux

I failed in solving the Castro Theater calendar puzzle for November 2013.  The comments on that post have given me new life.  Brian Darr, whose blog I read daily for its near daily screening "recommendations," provided most of the answers to the missing names in the November calendar in his comments to my December 1 post.

Recapping what I had previously figured out:

November 5 - Frances Farmer

November 18 - Hedy Lamarr

November 25 - John Garfield

Brian told me that:

November 4 - Jean Marais

November 26 - Loretta Young

That leaves the man in the photo on November 12 unidentified.

I wondered who Jean Marais is.  Looking at his filmography, I believe I have only seen one movie with Jean Marais - Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête (1946) which is also frequently known by its English translated title - Beauty and the Beast.  I remember seeing that film at the Castro.  Below is a photo of Marais as he appeared for most of the film.  I can't believe I didn't recognize him.

Jean Marais in La Belle et la Bête

I'm surprised I didn't recognize Loretta Young but as I looked through her filmography, I realized I have not seen many of the films she made.  I did see her in The Crusades but I cannot remember anything about her performance.  As I mentioned in the post, I still remember the striking appearance of Katerine DeMille two years after seeing an otherwise unmemorable film for me.

For me, Loretta Young will always occupy a space in my brain for having Clark Gable's illegitimate child (Judy Lewis).  Young went through the trouble of birthing her in secret, placing her in the care of an orphanage and then adopting the child legally.

I deliberately omitted November 12 when asking Brian, in my response, to identify the unknown people in the photos so that there would be some challenge left.  Also recall that in the hardcopy calendar, November 12 is occupied by Lloyd Bridges.

While looking up Jean Marais on Wikipedia, I noticed he was born in 1913.  That had resonance because I was considering attending at The Films on 1913 program at Smith Rafael Film Center on December 12.

My co-worker had read a Hedy Lamarr biography earlier this year and had mentioned she would be 100 in 2013 if she were alive.  I quickly looked up the birthdays of Frances Farmer, Loretta Young, Lloyd Bridges and John Garfield.  All were born in 1913.

In IMDB, you can easily look up people born in a given year by finding someone born in that year (say Loretta Young in 1913) and clicking on the hyperlink on the birth year in the biography section.  Not only that but the results are listed in ascending rank order of the Most Popular People Born In YYYY.

Going down the IMDB list of Most Popular People Born in 1913, I initially thought November 12 was Peter Cushing but the nose wasn't right.  I kept going down the list; eliminating all actresses and any actors whom I could identify.  Finally at #55 on the IMDB list was an actor named Wesley Addy whose most famous credit is Network (1976).  I need to see that movie again; it's been two decades since I last saw it.  Conveniently, the IMDB photo of Wesley Addy is the same one used on November 12 of the calendar.  I could not have identified Wesley Addy, by name or appearance, before finding him on IMDB.

From the IMDB list, I noticed Vivien Leigh was the most popular person born in 1913.  #2 on the list was Burt Lancaster.  I'm still not sure about "the rules of the game" but just recognizing that all the individuals were born in the same year doesn't seem like enough.  The clues in the calendar typically point to a specific event.

I suspect that in the November calendar, the clues were pointing to the November 11 screening of From Here to Eternity which stars Lancaster although that may be reaching.

Danny Kaye (#3 on the 1913 list) is an actor who seems forgotten today; I don't recall any of films screening during his centennial year.  The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), arguably his most famous film, is being remade with Ben Stiller in Kaye's eponymous role.  It looks interesting to me and I may see it.

Castro Theater Calendar - November 2013

2013 Mill Valley Film Festival

The 2013 Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) was from October 3 to 13.  I was able to see two films at the festival

Like Father, Like Son starring Masaharu Fukuyama; directed by Hirokazu Koreeda; Japanese with subitles; (2013) - Official Website
Tokyo Family starring Isao Hashizume, Kazuko Yoshiyuki & Masahiko Nishimura; directed by Yoji Yamada; Japanese with subtitles; (2013) - Official Website

I saw Like Father, Like Son at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael and Tokyo Family at the CineArts Sequoia in Mill Valley.

As has become my custom when in San Rafael, I stopped by Sol Food before Like Father, Like Son.  The food was delicious as usual.  Recently, Sol Food opened a location in Mill Valley.  I looked for it after Tokyo Family but couldn't find it.  For reference, it is at 401 Miller Ave.  The San Rafael locations on Lincoln and 3rd Street (The Big Place) and 4th (The Small Place) are within a short walk of the Smith Rafael but the Mill Valley location is quite far from the Sequoia which is at 25 Throckmorton Ave.

The first weekend of MVFF conflicted with Hong Kong Cinema.

I took a weekday off from work to run errands and ended up seeing three films (including Like Father, Like Son).

MVFF had a sidebar series called Focus: Three Generations Japan.  The series consisted of four Japanese films:  Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro, I Catch a Terrible Cat, Tokyo Family and Like Father, Like Son.  I wanted to see I Catch a Terrible Cat but the only screening that fit my schedule was at rush when I attempted to get tickets.  Not wanting to risk making the trip to Marin County only to be left on the sidewalk, I passed on I Catch a Terrible Cat.  This also reminds me that I completely whiffed on a Hayao Miyazaki series at the PFA this summer.  Miyazaki directed From Up on Poppy Hill which I enjoyed.

Like Father, Like Son uses a plot device which I have seen before but manages to keep the story fresh.  Ryota Nonomiya (Masaharu Fukuyama) is a driven salaryman who is raising his six year old son Keita (Keita Ninomiya) in his own image.  Writing this, I just realized the child actor's name is the same as his character's name.  To Ryota's consternation, Keita is not cut from the same cloth as him.  He soons learns why.  The hospital calls and informs Ryota and his wife Midori (Machiko Ono) that babies were switched at birth and that there is high likelihood that Keita is not their biological son.

Once the DNA tests confirm Keita's not the Nonomiya's son, the hospital arrange for a meeting between the families.  Yudai and Yukari Saiki (Rirî Furankî and Yôko Maki) have the Nonomiyas’ son, Ryusei (Hwang Sho-gen) and vice versa.  Although swapping sons is not a requirement, the hospital administrators most families decide to do just that.  Apparently this switcheroo was not unheard of in Japan in the past.

This news actually comes as a bit of relief to Ryota.  Unable to motivate his son to satisfactory heights, Ryota now has a built-in excuse (it was in the genes) and an option to upgrade sons.  In fact, he hatches an idea which would make a eugenicists proud.  He keep Keita and adopt Ryusei since the Saikis are always short of cash.  Offended by the suggestion, the Saikis categorically reject his offer and Ryota "has no choice" but swap sons despite his wife's misgivings.  Ryota doesn't seem too shook up about it either.  In a heartrending scene, he informs Keita that he will live with the Saikis, he continue to practice piano if he wants to and most importantly, Keita is not to call the Nonomiyas ever again.

"Swapped at birth" is a premise that only the most untalented filmmaker could mess up.  Hirokazu Koreeda (also spelled Kore-eda) is the opposite of untalented.  His previous films I Wish (2011) and Nobody Knows (2004) have explored the separation of children from their families so this theme must have some resonance with him.  Kore-eda does something different.  Whereas the aforementioned films were told from the children's point of view, Like Father, Like Son is Ryota's story.  He has to lose Keita to appreciate him which is obviously cliche but under the capable direction of Kore-eda, the film never feels cliche.

Some films are like Caesar Salads.  The classic Caesar Salad is a thing of beauty.  Simple and delicious.  It's presence on so many menus is a testimonial to its popularity.  Some restaurants try to get fancy and put their own spin on the Caesar with varying results.  Others attempt the classic version and succeed.  Finally, there are places that attempt the classic and screw it up.  Like Father, Like Son is like a classic Caesar Salad.  It's well prepared and despite being exactly what I expected, it was pleasurable to consume.

Like Father, Like Son will be released in the US theaters in January. I recommend seeing it.

Tokyo Family is a remake of Yasujirō Ozu's Tokyo Story (1953) which is frequently cited as the best Japanese movie ever made.  The director of Tokyo Family is Yoji Yamada who was an assistant director on Tokyo Story.

Yamada faithfully follows the plot of Tokyo Story with a few exceptions.  Further solidifying Tokyo Story's exalted standing, Tokyo Family doesn't achieve the same effect.  I will assume the reader is familiar with Tokyo Story so I will not summarize the plot to Tokyo Family.

The changes from the original which I refer to include a modern day setting.  Tokyo Story was set in contemporary times also but 1953 is much different than 2013.  Whereas the specter of WWII was ever present in Tokyo Story, it's the fallout from the Fukushima disaster (figuratively and literally) and generation long economic malaise which cast their shadow in Tokyo Family.  By extension, the youngest son is now alive if not well.  In the original, he had died during the war.  Now, he is underemployed and a disappointment to his parents.  The legendary Setsuko Hara played Noriko, the dead son's widow in 1953.  In 2013, Noriko is the son's girlfriend and her kindness is not just gratifying to the parents but also gives a sense of confidence that their son will be fine...if he hangs onto this fine woman.

In 1953, Ozu handled the mother's death off screen which was consistent his hallmark elliptical storytelling.  Yamada gives the woman a deathbed scene although she remain unconscious.  However, the family members show their grief with more emotions than their 1953 counterparts.

Not surprisingly, Tokyo Family gets the short end of the stick in direct comparison to Tokyo Story.  Obviously that's an unfair comparison.  I wonder how the film is received by the sadly sizable population who have not seen Tokyo Story.  The strongest comment I can make about Tokyo Family is that it reinforced my already high opinion of Tokyo Story.

You Have the Right to Remain Silent

In the week after the 2013 San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) ended, I saw two additional silent films.

The Oyster Princess starring Victor Janson & Ossi Oswalda; directed by Ernst Lubitsch; silent with intertiles; live accompaniment by Rodney Sauer & Britt Swenson; (1919)
Battleship Potemkin; directed by Sergei Eisenstein; silent with intertiles; live accompaniment by Cameron Carpenter; (1926)

The Oyster Princess was preceded by a short film.

Cops starring Buster Keaton & Virginia Fox; directed by Edward F. Cline & Keaton; silent with intertitles; (1922)

Rodney Sauer & Britt Swenson are two-fifths of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.  Sauer plays electronic keyboard and Swenson plays violin.  The Oyster Princess played at the Smith Rafael Film Center the day after the SFSFF ended.

Battleship Potemkin played at Davies Symphony Hall the weekend after SFSFF ended and was presented by the San Francisco Symphony.  Carpenter played the pipe organ in Davies Hall.  It was the first time I had heard the organ or seen a “film” in Davies although I'm 99.99% certain they screened a DVD.  I should also mention I received a discount (50%?) on the ticket price from a San Francisco Independent Film Festival (Indiefest) promotion.

The subtitle for The Oyster Princess was “a grotesque comedy in 4 acts.”  Actually, on IMDB, the film is listed as My Lady Margarine.  The director of the film, Ernst Lubitsch, was known for the “Lubitsch Touch.”  That phrase means many things to many people but for me, the closest definition comes from  Roger Fristoe.  I quote from The Cinema of Ernst Lubitsch:  “A subtle and souffle-like blend of sexy humor and sly visual wit.”  If “a grotesque comedy” seems incompatible with "a subtle and souffle-like blend of sexy humor and sly visual wit," that's because it was.  Oyster Princess was made in 1919 and I can only assume Lubitsch was not yet aware of his touch.  He would go on to direct films for an additional 30 years after Oyster Princess.

The plot deals with caricatures of American wealth & avarice and a case of mistaken identity.  Mr. Quaker (Victor Janson in a flashy, over-the-top performance) is the obscenely rich American businessman who made his fortune in canned oyster. That makes his daughter, Ossi (Ossi Oswalda, aka The German Mary Pickford), the titular Oyster Princess - spoiled, sheltered and single.  When Ossi reads that a friend of hers has married a count (in real life, Oswalda was married to a baron), she demands from her father, a prince for her husband.  Through a matchmaker, they find Prince Nucki (Harry Liedtke) who is deep in debt.  He is anxious to marry when told his potential fiancée is incredibly wealthy.  He sends his friend Josef (Julius Falkenstein) to act as his intermediary.

When Josef arrives at the Quaker mansion, he is mistaken for the prince.  Ossi is in such a rush to top her friend, she drags Josef to the altar and she won't let him get a word in edgewise (even “I do”).  Ossi marries “Prince Nucki” and returns home to inform her father who is “not impressed.”  That is Mr. Quaker catch phrase throughout the film.  Hosting a lavish but hastily arranged wedding reception, Quaker reluctantly introduces his son-in-law, Josef gets drunk and Ossi seems to have little interest in consummating her marriage.  Meanwhile, the real Prince Nucki become restless waiting for Josef and goes out with his friends where he proceeds to get drunk as well.

The next morning, Ossi hosts a breakfast for Multi-Millionaires’ Daughters Association Against Dipsomania.  Dipsomania was the medical term for alcoholism at the time.  Nucki, still inebriated, shows up at the Quaker mansion where the women assume he is a dipsomaniac in need of treatment.  Ossi literally wins a fistfight with the prize being the privilege to treat the handsome, young dipsomaniac.  Ossi decides to begin treatment in her bedroom.  Although mightily attracted to each other, Ossi takes her wedding vows seriously and Nucki doesn't want to risk his nuptials with pre-marital infidelity.  At this point, Josef rouses from his alcohol induced slumber and notices a stranger in his wife's bedroom.  When he realizes it is Prince Nucki, he lets them in on the his true identity and makes the legally dubious claim that Nucki & Ossi are already married since he signed the marriage license under Nucki's name.  Later, Nucki & Ossi sneak off to assert their conjugal rights.  Later, the ever curious Mr. Quaker checks in on his daughter in her bedroom and finally exclaims, “Now I'm impressed!”

There are several scenes from this film which stand out in my memory.  Most of them have to do with the wealth and excesses of the Quakers.  They have an army of servants and at one point, a regiment of maid bathe and dress Ossi like a factory assembly line.  As I mentioned, Victor Janson seems to be having a ball as the crass, cigar chomping, fat cat.  Curt Bois who lived to be 90 and whose final film appearance was in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire turns up as a Cab Calloway-like band leader whose toe-tapping music induces "a foxtrot epidemic" at Ossi's wedding reception.

There was humor in the film but I came in expecting “The Lubitsch Touch” and this was anything but that in my opinion.  I won't say I disliked the film but will say I was disappointed.

§§§

I saw Cops at the Red Vic in 2010 when Dennis Nyback came to town.  Dennis Nyback seems to have gone silent as his blog has not been updated since last year.  I recall that program at the Red Vic and enjoyed it although I didn't say anything about Cops in my post at the time.  I recall some of the scenes when I watched it the second time but I don't feel Cops is one of Keaton's better two-reelers.  The most memorable scene involves Keaton being chased by hundreds of policemen and was impressive for the number of extras used in the scene.

I guess once again, I've seen too many films for my own good.  Compared with the three Keaton films screened by the SFSFF in February at their winter event, Cops came up short. It's the same set of characters - Keaton's porkpie hat character, Virgnia Fox as the girl, Joe Roberts as the foil and co-director Edward F. Cline but Keaton in Cops did not inspire the same sense of empathy or sympathy as the February films.  In addition, the gags weren't as funny.  Oh well...even a subpar Buster Keaton film is worth a trip to San Rafael.  I'd much rather see Cops a third time than many of the films I've seen since starting this blog.

§§§

Battleship Potemkin was the first film I have seen at Davies Symphony Hall.  As I mentioned, I'm pretty sure it was digitally projected.  What the medium, the picture quality was not very good.  However, organist Cameron Carpenter was quite entertaining.  Sporting a partially grown-out mohawk and a sequined jumpsuit, Carpenter looked more like a rock star.  Carpenter isn't your father's silent film accompanist.  Compared to the Castro or Stanford, the Davies organ appears to have more foot pedals.  Maybe it was because the organ was elevated so that you could clearly see Carpenter's movement.  At the Castro & Stanford, the organ descends into the orchestra pit so it's clear what the organist is doing with his feet.  Carpenter's feet were move frantically and the sequins were reflecting light during the opening piece which did not accompany the film and I do not recall the title or the composer.

After a short introduction which focused on the musical pieces and during which Carpenter admitted to not knowing much about the film, the grainy images of Battleship Potemkin commenced.  I've seen Battleship Potemkin before.  It was a very memorable night as the screening was hosted by the San Francisco chapter of the Freedom Socialist Party.  The music from the DVD gave the scenes on the battleship a certain grandeur.  I originally likened it to Victory at Sea.  The scenes didn't seem so memorable this time.  For all of Carpenter's showmanship, his performance fell short of the standard set by SFSFF.

At SFSFF screenings, the music truly accompanies the film.  The change in tempo or volume is timed with the images on the screen.  Carpenter was simply playing a set piece with the film images seemingly an afterthought.  The music was primary and the film secondary.

Battleship Potemkin stood up well to a second viewing.  The number of extras used in the filming is staggering.  Essentially revolutionary propaganda, Battleship Potemkin makes little effort to personalize the characters.  In contrast, The Weavers at the 2013 SFSFF spent more time humanizing the revolutionaries.  However, Battleship Potemkin has a crucial advantage over The Weavers - Eisenstein's genius with imagery and montage editing with the highlight being the Odessa Steps sequence.

After seeing Battleship Potemkin at Davies, I'm not sure if I'll see additional films presented by the SF Symphony.

Pierre Étaix Lost and Found

This is my 500th post.  I'm surprised I have stuck with this blog for as long as I have.  That's all I have to say about the milestone.  I like to see blogs where the author stopped posting.  Frequently, the posts stop without notice.  I read through the posts to see if I can discern the author's growing disengagement but typically I cannot.  Abandoned blogs are the e-detritus of people's lives.

§§§

Last week, I went to the Smith Rafael Film Center to see the Pierre Étaix series.  As I mentioned, I saw Yoyo at the 2012 Mill Valley Film Festival.  Wanting to see more of Étaix's work, I ventured to San Rafael.  As I did last time, I stopped by Sol Food.  Due to traffic, I couldn't eat before the screenings so I had a very late dinner before driving home.  Fortunately, Sol Food is open until midnight most days (2 AM on Fridays & Saturdays).  This time I had the pork chop with pink onions and the revoltillo sandwich (scrambled eggs, tomato, onion and ham).  The food was a delicious as my first visit.  I have to go to the Smith Rafael Film Center more often.

As Long As You're Healthy starring & directed by Pierre Étaix; French with subtitles; (1966)
The Suitor starring & directed by Pierre Étaix; French with subtitles; (1963)

As Long As You're Healthy was preceded by Feeling Good which was originally a segment of As Long As You're Healthy.  The Suitor was preceded by Rupture.

Feeling Good starring & directed by Pierre Étaix; French with subtitles; (1966)
Rupture starring & directed by Pierre Étaix; French with subtitles; (1961)

As Long As You're Healthy was re-edited by Étaix five years after its original release.  The film consists of four stand-alone segments.  Like Yoyo, As Long As You’re Healthy has extended scenes without dialog.

The first segment has Étaix playing a man with insomnia reading a vampire story, the second has the hapless Étaix fruitlessly trying to get a seat in a crowded movie theater, the third segment features Étaix in a restaurant with the man sitting next to him inadvertently consuming his anti-anxiety pills and the final vignette consists of a hunter (Étaix), a farmer, a picnicking couple and a wire fence which keeps getting pulled down.  Somewhere in there (the second segment I believe), Étaix visits a married couple who have all the modern conveniences.

The comedy is broad and crosses over into physical comedy but never slapstick.  As Long As You’re Healthy reminded me of a good Laurel and Hardy film.  The film never provoked an emotion.  Étaix was likely criticizing modern lifestyles (in the third segment, the automobiles put out more exhaust than a steel mill) but his character remains a detached observer.

Feeling Good involved Étaix going camping in a location that more closely resembled a concentration camp than campgrounds.

The Suitor was my favorite Étaix to date.  He plays wealthy young man who is being pressured into marriage by his parents.  A remake of Buster Keaton's Seven Chances, it's not surprising that The Suitor is the only film which created any pathos.  Again, consisting largely of stand-alone segments, Étaix bounces from one woman to the next without ever noticing the Swedish exchange student living in his parents' house.  Fleeing from the attention of a tactless and frequently drunk brunette (who reminded me of Joan Collins), Étaix sets his sights on a chanteuse...until finding out she has a son about the same age as him.  Only noticing the Swede until she has gone off to the train station for her return to Scandinavia, Étaix rushes to the station to meet her.  A little offensive if you think about it enough, the film finally provoked an emotion from me.

Rupture has Étaix trying to write a letter to his ex-girlfriend but his desk, pen and stationery won't cooperate.

As I wrote before, I was expecting (hoping?) Étaix to be closer to Jacques Tati or Charlie Chaplin.  Instead, he is more like Jerry Lewis with comedic savoir faire.  All four films (and Yoyo) were very well made comedies and I laughed frequently & heartily.  I would recommend his works but will say that although I had the opportunity to see additional Étaix films the next two nights, I was not willing to fight the traffic and pay the bridge toll for the privilege.

The Beauty of the Real

From August 17 to 23, the Roxie presented a 14 film series called "The Beauty of the Real: A Celebration of Contemporary French Actresses!"  The series was programmed by San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick LaSalle.  Some of the films in the series also played at the Smith Rafael but I don't recall which ones or how many films.

I saw 12 of the 14 films; all at the Roxie.  The two films I missed were Empty Days and 5x2.  I saw Emtpy Days at the 2012 Sacramento French Film Festival which LaSalle partially programmed.  I had not seen any of the 12 films before.

Anthony Zimmer starring Yvan Attal & Sophie Marceau; directed by Jerome Salle; French with subtitles; (2005)
Le Prix à Payer starring Christian Claiver & Nathalie Baye; directed by Alexandra Leclère; French with subtitles; (2007)
Le Petit Lieutenant starring Nathalie Baye; directed by Xavier Beauvois; French with subtitles; (2005) - Official Website
Entres ses Mains starring Isabelle Carré & Benoit Poelvoorde; directed by Anne Fontaine; French with subtitles; (2005)
Le Role de sa vie starring Agnes Jaoui & Karin Viard; directed by François Favrat; French with subtitles; (2004)
Le Cérémonie starring Sandrine Bonnaire & Isabelle Hupert; with Jacqueline Bisset; directed by Claude Chabrol; French with subtitles; (1995)
Post Coitum Animal Triste starring & directed by Brigitte Rouan; French with subtitles; (1997)
A nos Amours starring Sandrinne Bonnaire; directed by Maurice Pialat; French with subtitles; (1983)
Les Ambitieux starring Karin Viard; directed by Catherine Corsini; French with subtitles; (2006)
Alias Betty starring Mathilde Seigner & Sandrine Kiberlain; starring Claude Miller; French with subtitles; (2001)
Didine starring Géraldine Pailhas & Julie Ferrier; directed by Vincent Dietschy; French with subtitles; (2008)
Intimate Strangers; starring Sandrine Bonnaire & Fabrice Luchini; directed by Patrice Leconte; French with subtitles; (2004)

§§§

The Beauty of the Real was one of the most satisfying film series/festivals I've attended.  Night after night, outstanding films were screened.  I was largely unfamiliar with the films although I was surprised at how many of the actresses I recognized.  There were healthy crowds too.  I predict there will be a follow up although the series was designed to promote LaSalle's (then) new book - The Beauty of the Real.  Towards the end of the series, I considered buying a copy of the book but they weren't selling them.  After the first or second day of the series, LaSalle was out of town.  He had prerecorded introductions to each film which would precede each film.

My favorite film was the last film I saw, Intimate Strangers.  Sandrine Bonnaire is Ana, an agitated housewife who goes to see a psychiatrist.  Taking a wrong turn on the floor, she enters the unmarked office of tax accountant William (Fabrice Luchini).  Assuming his secretary forgot to mark the appointment on his calendar, William invites Ana in to discuss her "problems."  Thinking he is a psychiatrist, she divulges intimate details of her marriage and sex life.  Stunned, William attempts to keep his composure but he is doesn't correct her mistaken assumption about his profession.

Attracted and intrigued by Ana, William allows the charade to continue over several sessions.  He even seeks advice from the psychiatrist down the hall who Ana was intending to see.  Some of the funniest scenes are between William and Dr. Monnier (Michel Duchaussoy) who begins to psychoanalyze Williams...and even bills him for it.

If the first half of the film is a comedy with romantic overtones, director Patrice Leconte mixes it up in second  half as Ana's life and motives are seen in a different light.  These plot twists (always with an undercurrent of black humor) are deliciously intriguing.  Intimate Strangers is the cleverest of films.  The audience never guesses the next step and is constantly entertained while Ana & William are peeled like an onion - remove one layer and there is another beneath until the end when I still wondered if there were more layers to them.

I'm becoming a big fan of Fabrice Luchini.  I had previously seen him in The Women on the 6th Floor.  A skilled comedian, Luchini is able to shift into dramatic scenes effortlessly.

§§§

Le Prix à Payer (The Price to Pay) was a showcase for Nathalie Baye, an actress I've previously enjoyed in Beautiful Lies.  Jean-Pierre (Christian Clavier) and Odile (Baye) are a wealthy married couple whose marriage has become strained.  When Odile refuses Jean-Pierre amorous advances one time too many, he retaliates by disabling her credit cards and bank account.  He is tired of being treated as human ATM without enjoying any of the carnal aspects of marriage.  He agrees to restore Odile's access to funds if she will resume marital relations.  Thus begins a delightful sex farce which draws the chauffeur (Gérard Lanvin) and his girlfriend (Géraldine Pailhas) who represent the proletarian view.  I could go on but writing fatigue and time force me to cut this capsule short.

Géraldine Pailhas appeared in Didine, another film from the series which I liked.  A contrived romantic comedy, I would typically eschew this type of film.  Like Beautiful Lies (another contrived romantic comedy), it appears that what I reject in Hollywood films, I will accept in French films.  Didine works for me because Pailhas and Julie Ferrier's performances.  The younger Didine and older Muriel (Ferrier) start at odds with each other but become friends with Muriel imparting some lessons on life along the way.  Even one sentence description sounds clichéd.  Sometimes the performances in a film (and one's latent Francophobia) can overcome a tired script.

§§§

So I enjoyed the comedies but most of the films were more serious.

Le Petit Lieutenant and Le Cérémonie were the most well known films in the series.  The eponymous Lt. is Jalil Lespert, a young police officer from Le Havre who transfer to Paris.  His commanding officer is Caroline Vaudieu (Nathalie Baye).  The first half of the film follows Antoine (Lespert) as he adjust to his new job in a the big city.  We sense there is tension between Antoine and his wife who remains in Le Havre.  The police in Antoine's precinct begin investigating a series of killings which bring Lespert into closer contact with Vaudieu.  The film slowly shift its focus to the relationship between these two.  Vaudieu is recovering alcoholic who son died at age 7 and she never fully recovered.  Antoine reminds her of her dead son and she begins to nurture the young police officer as his mentor and surrogate mother.  In the background, are these murders which will have tragic consequences for Antoine.  Not quite functioning as a taut thriller or policier, Le Petit Lieutenant hits it stride when it explores the lives of Antoine & Vaudieu.  It adds complexity to the characters as they go about their jobs which is 99% boredom and 1% terror.  Le Petit Lieutenant is worthy of whatever accolades and awards it has received.

Le Cérémonie was outstanding also.  Sandrine Bonnaire is Sophie an illiterate woman who comes to work for the Lelièvre family as a live-in maid in a small town.  Catherine (Jacqueline Bisset) and Georges (Jean-Pierre Cassel) are a well-to-do couple with two teenage children.  They treat Sophie well but their patronizing attitude towards her and affection towards each other create a distance between Sophie and her employers.  Her unwillingness to admit her illiteracy also causes misunderstandings.

Into this void steps Jeanne (Isabelle Huppert), the postmistress of the town.  Rebellious and resentful of people better off than her (such as the Lelièvres), Jeanne proves to be a bad influence on Sophie.  When Sophie discovers a secret about the Lelièvres' daughter, she threatens blackmail since the young woman knows about her illiteracy.  This results in Sophie being fired which in turn results in the violent finale.  Shocking in its brutality, Le Cérémonie ramps up the tension until Sophie breaks.

§§§

At the 2012 Sacramento French Film Festival, I saw Romantics Anonymous which also played at the Roxie in July.  That reminds me, for some reason "The Beauty of the Real" was delayed by about a month.  Originally scheduled for July 20 to 26, it was postponed to August 17 to 23.  On the Roxie printed calendar, Romantics Anonymous was scheduled for August 17 to 23 but actually played July 20 to 26 (it may have been held over for another week).  In a nutshell, "The Beauty of the Real" and Romantics Anonymous swapped places on the Roxie calendar.  No explanation was given.

Romantics Anonymous, a 2010 comedy, was successful because of the chemistry between its two lead actors - Isabelle Carré & Benoit Poelvoorde.  Perhaps their on-screen chemistry was due to the fact that Romantics Anonymous was their second film together.  They made Entres ses Mains in 2005.

Entres ses Mains is the story of woman (Carré) who falls in love with a serial killer (Poelvoorde).  She is initially unaware of his murderous predilections but it is the scenes after she begins to suspect his "hobby" which make the film memorable.    Carré & Poelvoorde show a palpable on screen chemistry which must have led to their being cast in Romantics Anonymous.  It was particularly interesting to see Poelvoorde go from a meek chocalatier to a psychopathic killer.

A nos Amours was Sandrine Bonnaire's film debut.  She plays Suzanne, a promiscuous 15 year old. (Bonnaire's actual age during filming).  Bored at home, she begins to sleep around to the consternation of her father (played by director Maurine Pialat).  When he abandons the family, Suzanne mother (Evelyne Ker) has a nervous breakdown.  Her brother (Dominique Besnehard) becomes head of the household and begins beating her (while simultaneously showing more than brotherly love).  It's a Eurotrash family portrait rendered in realist brushstrokes and unsentimental tones.  A nos Amours is powerful film and Bonnaire's performance is amazing considering her age and lack of acting experience.  LaSalle said it was Bonnaire's sister who auditioned for the role but Pialat was immediately drawn to Sandrine's look and attitude.

§§§

Three other films were not quite to the level enjoyments as the one I've summarized here.  I still liked them but just not as much.

Le Role de sa vie stars Karin Viard as a writer who becomes the personal assistant for a famous actress (Agnes Jaoui).  The film explores their relationship which evolves over the course of the film.

In Post Coitum Animal Triste, a 40something woman (Brigitte Rouan) begins a passionate but destructive relationship with a younger man.  It destroys her family (husband and two children) and nearly herself.

Les Ambitieux has a similar plot as Post Coitum, right down to the fact that both women are book editors.  In Les Ambitieux, Karin Viard plays an older woman having an affair with younger man (a writer) who begins secretly write a story about Viard's 1970's revolutionary father.  Les Ambitieux is a dark comedy whereas Post Coitum is drama.  In both films, I didn't find the lead character compelling.

Alias Betty felt like a Tarantino film at time.  There were a lot characters, many of the criminals, interacting with each and several plot threads that came together and then split apart and then came back together again.  Alias Betty tried to be too clever for its own good.

§§§

The only film I didn't like was Anthony Zimmer, the first film of the series.  Zimmer was original material from which The Tourist (Angelina Jolie & Johnny Depp) was drawn.  Recalling how LaSalle's felt The Tourist was inferior to Anthony Zimmer, I think my expectation were raised too high to be fulfilled.  Not nearly "nerve-racking" as LaSalle led me to believe and with an ending I found incredulous, "The Beauty of the Real" did not start well for me but I'm glad I stuck with for 6 out of its 7 day run.

2012 Mill Valley Film Festival

I bought tickets to seven screenings at the 2012 Mill Valley Film Festival but only saw six.  I was double booked on the evening of October 4.  I skipped the screening of Starlet and went to the Berkeley Rep's production of Chinglish which I greatly enjoyed.

I've noticed a pattern recently. It seems like I been reading books (Girlvert by Oriana Small), attending events (Femina Potens ASKEW at YBCA) and watching films (Danland at DocFest) where porn or porn performers are the focus.  The titular character in Starlet, the film I skipped at MVFF, is "Jane, a newbie to the San Fernando Valley porn industry who spends most of her plentiful free time shiftlessly getting high and partying. It’s not until she meets Sadie, a taciturn, lonely old woman who just wants to be left in peace, that Jane’s life takes a deeper, unexpected turn."  I also recently rediscovered my love of the film Body Double (a future post on this blog), a Brian De Palma work set in the world of porn.  Don't know what the implies about me.

MVFF ran from October 4 to 14.  The six films I saw were:

Yoyo starring & directed by Pierre Étaix; French with subtitles; (1965)
Thursday Till Sunday starring Santi Ahumada; directed by Dominga Sotomayor; Spanish with subtitles; (2012) - Official Website
Holy Motors starring Denis Lavant; directed by Leos Carax; French with subtitles; (2012) - Official Website
The Slut starring & directed by Hagar Ben-Asher; Hebrew with subtitles; (2011)
Like Someone in Love starring Rin Takanashi & Tadashi Okuno; directed by Abbas Kiarostami; Japanese with subtitles; (2012)
Rent-a-Cat starring Mikako Ichikawa; directed by Naoko Ogigami; Japanese with subtitles; (2012)  - Official Website

I saw Yoyo, The Slut, Like Someone In Love and Rent-a-Cat at the Smith Rafael.  I saw Thursday Till Sunday at 142 Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley & Holy Motors at Cinearts Sequoia.

I cannot recall the last time I was in San Rafael which did not involve a trip to the Smith Rafael Film Center.  While driving there, I always notice a line of people at Sol Food at Lincoln and 3rd Street.  Sol Food is a well reviewed, well regarded Puerto Rican restaurant.  I took a day off from work and made a day of it in San Rafael.  Over two meals, I had the Jamon, Queso y Huevo sandwich, the Cubano sandwich, the Maduros (fried sweet plantains), the Tostones con Mojo (fried green plantains) and a side order of pork ribs.  I would have gone back for a third meal but I had to drive back to SF to catch the 9:30 PM screening of Din Tao at Taiwan Film Days.  Perhaps my critical review of Din Tao was influenced by the knowledge that I had skipped a third meal at Sol Food for it.

§§§

Yoyo was one of a series of comedy films made by Pierre Étaix in the 1960s.  An assistant to Jacques Tati, Étaix borrowed from him as well as Chaplin, Keaton and other silent film comedians.  Long scenes with no dialogue punctuate Yoyo.  Yoyo lacks the poignancy and sadness of Tati, et al.  The result is that Yoyo is more clever than heartfelt.  A great comedy has to have a certain amount of sadness underlying it or it lacks the emotional heft to be meaningful

Although I was expecting more from Yoyo, I may see more works by Étaix.  The Smith Rafael is screening five of his films in December.  In addition to Yoyo, the series consists of Le Grand Amour, The Suitor, As Long As You're Healthy and Land of Milk and Honey.  "Clever" is better than nothing and I have to believe that someone with a reputation of Étaix had to earn it somehow.

§§§

Holy Motors starred Denis Levant (who was terrific in Claire Denis' Beau travail).  In Holy Motors, Levant plays Oscar, an actor who rides around in the back of white stretch limousine.  The passenger compartment is a mobile dressing room filled with costumes, props and make-up accessories.  All day and into the night, with Edith Scob as the chauffeur, the limo travels around Paris delivering Levant to various locations where he performs as a character in real-life situations.  He plays a white-haired businessman, a beggar woman, a dying old man,  a crazy homeless man, a man having simulated sex while wearing a black body suit studded with motion-capture balls, etc.  It ends with him playing a chimpanzee father returning home to his nuclear chimpanzee family.  Along the way, Eva Mendes & Kylie Minogue show up.

Holy Motors is a frustratingly surreal film.  I'm unsure what the message is.  In fact, I don't think there was one.  It was like some dadaist film experiment.  Leos Carax blurs the traditional narrative structure which film audiences have been conditioned to accept.  During the interludes between jobs, Levant & Scob share superficially trite conversations which I listened to carefully searching for clues to unlock the mystery.  Ultimately, I decided to abandon all hope and simply watched the film with a sense of acceptance wondering what character Oscar would next become.

There is a scene where Oscar dresses up like a crazy, homeless man and terrorizes people in a cemetery.  Eventually, he comes upon a fashion photo shoot (in the cemetery).  The photographer is intrigued by the strange and dishevelled man.  He sends his assistant to convince the man to be part of the shoot.  Oscar promptly bites her fingers off and slings the model (Mendes) over his shoulder.  He runs off to some subterranean crypt with her.  In a wordless scene, they share a mildly disturbing scene on a bench which ends Levant nude and fully erect I might add.  I can't blame the man as Mendes would likely have the same effect on me.

Carax and Levant teamed up to in Tokyo! (2008).  That film consisted of three unrelated short film, each directed by a different person.  Michael Gondry and Bong Joon-ho directed the other two segments.  Carax's segment was titled Merde and followed a dishevelled and crazy looking many who rises up from the sewers to wreak havocs on the citizens of Tokyo.  As IMDB confirms, it's the same character as in cemetery scene in Holy Motors.

§§§

I was ambivalent about Yoyo & Holy Motors, but the other four films were outstanding.

The provocatively named The Slut, was the brainchild of actor, director & screenwriter of Hagar Ben-Asher who played the eponymous character.  Tamar is a single mother of two daughters in a small rural community.  She sells fresh eggs for a living, but she believes in the barter system.  She trades sex for various services such a bicycle repair and physical labor.  She and the men in the town have come to an convenient understanding.  Far from being exploited, Tamar is able to satisfy her carnal needs in a mutually beneficial manner.  In a telling but understated scene, she punctures her bike tire on purpose so that she can engage in "bartering."

That's not to say her arrangement doesn't cause problems.  Her young daughters spy on her and seem to be developing unhealthy attitudes towards men and sexuality but overall they are fairly well adjusted.  It's not until Shai (Ishai Golan) returns to town that problems start.  A veterinarian and former resident of the town, Shai is back to treat an injured horse and clean out his late mother's house.  Acquainted with each other from their youths, Shai & Tamar quickly start a passionate relationship.

The relationship fulfills one of Tamar's desires which is a monogamous relationship to add stability to her daughters' lives.  As the females move into Shai's house to form a nuclear family, Tamar begins to feel ill at ease.  She senses the frustration in several men due to her monogamy but more troubling is the difficulties she is having adapting to it herself.  Eventually, she "barters" with the bicycle repair man and Shai discovers them.

Hurt by the betrayal, Shai engages in an act so shocking that I was left stunned during the screening.  Warning:  I will describe the act in this paragraph.  Tamar's elder daughter begins showing signs of puppy love towards Shai who is uncomfortable with it.  There is a scene where the two girls and Shai are watching TV on a couch.  The elder daughter lays her head on Shai's lap and falls asleep.  Conspicuously, Shai does not rest his hand/arm on her as would seem natural.  Aware of the elder daughter's feelings, Shai retaliates against Tamar by molesting the younger daughter which Tamar witnesses from outside their bedroom window.

This story plays out at a measured pace with little dialogue.  There is considerable latitude in assigning motivations to Tamar & Shai's action (in particular his choice for victim).  Even the ending ambiguous although I wonder how the two can stay together much less in that small town.  Provocative, shocking and ambiguous, The Slut is unlike anything I can recall seeing before.

§§§

Thursday Till Sunday was a comtemplative film about a couple's breakup from the viewpoint of their 10 year old daughter.  Set in Chile, Manuel and Ana set out on a road trip with Lucia (Santi Ahumada) and her younger brother.  Although they are civil towards each other, it is clear that there is tension between Manuel & Ana.  The younger brother is too young to understand what is going on but Lucia (and by extension the audience) can clearly pick up on the largely silent dissension between mother & father.    Both have ulterior motives.  What starts as a possible final reconciliation attempt becomes something else.  Manuel wants to visit his family's plot of land and show his son. Lucia wants to meet with the man by whom she is cuckolding Manuel.

Much of the film is set in the station wagon interior and we see the parents converse from Lucia's backseat point of view.  The confined settings leads to an intimacy with the characters.  There are no fireworks (even when Lucia realizes her mother is having an affair) but the accretive observations point a sad and damning portrait of the parents.  Not only does Lucia come realize her parents are likely getting divorced but she also realizes that they are flawed people and not the idealized parents she may have once imagined.

Paola Giannini as Ana is particularly effective.

§§§

On the day I did had my Sol Food Double Visit, I saw a pair of Japanese films.

Like Someone in Love is Japanese language with a Japanese cast and set in Japan but was directed by noted Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami.  I'm not sure if he is in exile from his native country but his last two films have been made in Europe and now Japan.  I wonder if Kiarostami speaks Japanese and if he doesn't how did he direct the actors.

Like Thursday Till Sunday & The Slut, still waters run deep in Like Someone in Love.  The film starts in a très chic jazz bar/lounge with Akiko (Rin Takanashi) on the phone with her boyfriend.  It's clear she is lying about her whereabouts.  After she gets off the phone, an older man sits at Akiko's table and tells her that he has arranged an appointment for her.  It is established early on that Akiko is a prostitute earning money to pay her way through college, a cliché but the film has many surprises later.

The client Akiko meets is an elderly and widowed retired professor whose apartment is filled with books.  Akiko is exhausted by her day since it turns out her grandmother has been leaving voice messages on her phone all day.  The ominous part is that grandma is calling her work phone; i.e. the phone number she gives out to clients.  In a skillful piece of filmmaking, we hear Akiko retrieve the half dozen or so messages her grandmother has left.  We learn that she makes an unexpected trip to Tokyo to speak with Akiko, got number from the family of one of Akiko's childhood friend (and fellow prostitute) and finally sees a model on a flyer advertising escort services which looks suspiciously like Akiko.  Akiko decides to leave granny at the train station without contacting her.  As the taxi takes Akiko to the professor's house, we see forlorn looking old woman desperately scanning faces in a vain attempt to find her granddaughter.  Just listening to that woman's wavering voice is enough to make my eyes moist.

Once Akiko gets to Takashi's (Tadashi Okuno) place, she adroitly sidesteps the romantic dinner prepared for her, strips off her clothes and jumps into his bed.  She correctly surmises he is a gentleman and will not object.  The next morning, Takashi offers to drive Akiko back to Toyko.  We learn that his area of expertise is the same subject Akiko is studing (anthropology?).  Akiko begins share details of her life.  Her boyfriend is unaware of her profession, has a temper and is jealous.  Akiko is unsure about him but is not ready to end the relationship.

After being dropped off at the university (it's unclear if it is the same university he taught at), Takashi witnesses Akiko and her boyfriend (Ryo Kase) have an argument.  While waiting in the car for Akiko, the boyfriend approaches Takashi; curious about his identity.  He assume Takashi is Akiko's grandfather and Takashi, does not correct the mistaken assumption of his identity.  The boyfriend tells him he wants to marry Akiko but Takashi gives grandfatherly wisdom to the younger man which is humorous and decidedly self-serving given his actual relationship with the girl.

When Akiko returns to the car, she is disturbed to see her boyfriend and client having a conversation but decides to play along.  The boyfriend runs a garage and hearing Takashi's timing belt is off, insists that he bring the car in for immediate repair.  While at the garage, Takashi runs into a former student who is now a police detective.  This will eventually unravel the charade Takashi & Akiko have allowed to stand.  Eventually, the boyfriend discovers from the detective that Takashi is not Akiko's grandfather and what Akiko's profession is.  Taking refuge in Takashi's apartment, Takashi and Akiko listen to the boyfriend rage outside.

Like Someone in Love is full of hidden identities and mistaken identities.  Takashi has a nosy neighbor  who watches his comings and goings like sentry.  She assumed Akiko is Takashi's granddaughter and shares hilariously personal details.  It turns out she is/was in love with Takashi from their youth (apparently Takashi has lived there since a young professor).  When he got married, she accepted the situation although it's obvious she didn't put aside her feelings.  Little scenes like that abound in the film.

A simple story of a lonely old man paying for companionship with a pretty young woman spirals out to the two of having a little adventure together and allowing societal assumptions about them to stand uncorrected.  That people can be hurt by their actions is dealt with in humorous manner until the final climactic scene.  Like Someone in Love is a very satisfying film with a "less is more" style.  There was no "moral" to the film.  It just the story flow and like life, it was full of humor, heartbreak and moments of terror.

§§§

After seeing three Kiarostami-esque films, I ended MVFF on a different note.  Rent-a-cat is a comedy about Sayoko, a young woman who lives by herself...if you don't count the two dozen cats in the house. Sayoko's "job" is a rent-a-cat agency.  With a pullcart, she chants her come-on pitch, "Rent-a-neko, neko-neko."  Neko means cat in Japanese.  She finds more clients than one would think.  There is the old woman who doesn't want to get a new cat because she is afraid she'll die and the cat will be abandoned, the salaryman who is separated from his family and doesn't want a permanent cat because he could be reassigned to his hometown and his family doesn't like cats and an unfulfilled rental car clerk who I can't recall why she doesn't want to get a cat.

The film takes formulaically over three vignettes with a prologue.  Each segment starts with her using a bullhorn for her sing-song "Rent-a-neko" chant.  She is taunted by some schoolboys who make fun of the catlady but eventually finds a client.  After inspecting the client's home to ensure suitability, she offers the cat for a nominal fee which each client is shocked at.  She makes up a reason why she doesn't need to make money from her cat rental business (which is depicted on screen in a fantasy sequence).  She leaves the cat with the person and the cat affects a change for the better in the lives of the clients or the client's family.  There is strange neighbor woman (played by a male actor) who infuriates her and she prays at her grandmother's shrine while reciting al the things her grandmother taught her.

The plot is not important because this a delightful comedy with some serious issues such the emotional isolation of people in a society.  These issues are explored gently and the film never loses its fanciful whimsy or congeniality.  Mikako Ichikawa delivers a winning performance showing exceptional comedic skills and she captures some of the sadness which I thought Yoyo was lacking.  I doubt anyone will equate Rent-a-cat with Chaplin or Tati but it was a well-made little film which exceeded its seemingly modest expectations or at least, my modest expectations of it.